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Ikeme out of Eagles squad, Rohr invites Akpeyi

By Editor
03 November 2016   |   2:06 am
Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has now invited South Africa –based goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi to camp for the match against Algeria.
Carl Ikeme

Carl Ikeme

•His absence won’t affect our team, says Shorunmu

Super Eagles’ Technical Adviser, Gernot Rohr has now invited South Africa –based goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi to camp for the match against Algeria.

Akpeyi, who stars for Chippa United, was in the Nigeria U20 squad that finished as runners –up at the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup in the Netherlands, and was also in the bronze –winning U23 team at the Men’s Olympic Football Tournament in Brazil in August this year.

The former junior international is a direct replacement for Super Eagles number one, Carl Ikeme, whose English club Wolverhampton Wanderers wrote to the NFF that he would be unavailable as a result of injury.

Meanwhile, former Super Eagles goalkeeper trainer, Ike Shorunmu says the team will miss the services of goalkeeper Ikeme, but insists that his absence won’t prevent Nigeria from beating the Fennecs of Algeria in the November 12 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Uyo.

Ikeme has been the team’s safest hands since taking over from Vincent Enyeama who retired from the team last year in Nigeria’s goalless draw against the Taifa Stars of Tanzania in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Dar es salam.

He was also in goal as Nigeria conquered the Chipolopolo of Zambia 2-1 in Ndola, only to pick up a hip injury during his club’s 1-1 draw in a Championship game last weekend.

Although he will be missed if the injury deprives him of making another appearance for the senior national team, however, Shorunmu told soccernet.com.ng that he doesn’t believe Ikeme’s absence would affect the team against Algeria on November 12.

“It is very sad that the Super Eagles will miss Carl Ikeme considering the fact that he’s shown to be a dependable goalkeeper since the departure of Vincent Enyeama from the team,” Shorunmu said.

“Again, who would have thought that Nigeria would find a good goalie in Ikeme when Enyeama retired? The good thing about the Super Eagles is that we are always blessed with quality goalkeepers.

“However, if the injury to Ikeme is confirmed serious, then we have no choice but to depend on ‎Ikechukwu Ezenwa and Dele Alampasu against Algeria. The truth is, Ikeme’s absence won’t stop the Super Eagles from beating the Desert Foxes in Uyo,” he concluded.‎

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